Sunday, May 22, 2005



Here is a picture that should interest all you biology buffs out there: This is a slightly fuzzy picture of a spider/tarantula shed that I collected on our hike today. I can't quite bring myself to collect butterflies and insects like a "true" collector (kill them and bring them home for the collection) so I've had to settle for the cast-offs. This guy is about an inch and a half, including the legs. For those of you not familiar with insects, many of them shed their outer exoskeleton each time they need to grow. Typically they're very soft and vulnerable for the first few hours until the new exoskeleton hardens. The two dark blobs to the right are the fangs-quite formidable!